Tire Digitizer

Abstract

A tire digitizer system for digitizing the profile of a tire to create a digital model of the tire is described. There is provided a chassis that includes one or more sheet of light triangulation sensors for capturing the profile of a tire moving in a predefined area and outputting coordinate values describing a digital model of the tire. The system may be used during the tire development and manufacturing process to inspect for any defects in the tire.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for digitizing a profile of a tire as it moves within a predefined area comprising:
 a chassis positioned in proximity to the tire within the predefined area;   a plurality of sensing modules mounted on the chassis, where the sensing modules capture a substantially 270 degrees profile of the tire within the predefined area and generate a profile data representative of the profile of a tire; and   a control unit in electrical communication with the sensing modules to process data from the sensing modules and correlate a coordinate space associated with the sensing modules with a common coordinate space.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein each sensing module comprises:
 a sheet of light triangulation sensors further comprising:
 an imager operative for triangulation and high resolution; 
 at least one of a plurality of light beam generators, wherein the at least one light beam generator projects a light beam with a unique wavelength associated with the at least one light beam generator; 
 a lens oriented relative to the light beam, wherein the focal plane of the lens aligns with the plane of the light beam, and; 
 an interference filter associated with allow the sensing module imager to see only the associated light beam generator. 
   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the sensing modules are registered to a common coordinate system to produce a single data set. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein a digitized Cartesian coordinate data cloud model of the tire is produced from the single data set. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein at least one sensing module is positioned proximate the front left sidewall of the tire, one sensing module is positioned proximate the front right sidewall of the tire, and one sensing module is positioned proximate the tread face dimensions of the tire. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the single data set comprises an angle of rotation of the tire and the profile data including:
 front left sidewall dimensions of the tire;   front right sidewall dimensions of the tire, and;   tread face dimensions of the tire.   
     
     
         7 . A method for digitizing a profile of a tire as the tire moves within a predefined area, the tire having a tread face, a front left sidewall, and a front right sidewall, the method comprising:
 positioning a tire chassis in proximity to the tire within the predefined area;   capturing a substantially profile of the tire substantially 270 degrees around the tire within the predefined area;   generating a profile data representative of the profile of a tire comprising front left sidewall dimensions of the tire, front right sidewall dimensions of the tire, and tread face dimensions of the tire;   electrically transmitting process data from each sensing module to a control unit; and   correlating a coordinate space associated with the sensing modules with a common coordinate space by the control unit.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising the steps of:
 providing a sheet of light triangulation sensors in the sensing modules comprise, the sensors comprising:   an imager operative for triangulation and high resolution;   at least one of a plurality of light beam generators, wherein the at least one light beam generator projects a light beam with a unique wavelength associated with the at least one light beam generator;   a lens oriented relative to the light beam, wherein the focal plane of the lens aligns with the plane of the light beam, and;   an interference filter.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising the step of:
 registering the sensing modules into a common coordinate system to produce a single data set, the single data set comprising an angle of rotation of the tire and the profile data.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising the step of producing a digitized Cartesian coordinate data cloud model of the tire from the single data set. 
     
     
         11 . An operational procedure for a tire digitizer including:
 projecting light beams from an at least one of a plurality of light beam generators;   using at least one of a plurality of imagers to capture a profile image of the tire;   simultaneously capturing the angle position of a rotary encoder used when rotating the tire;   triangulating the image of the tire to produce a profile data set;   transmitting the profile data set to a processor;   processing the profile data set, such that the resolution values are calibrated according to a reference data set, wherein the profile data set is transformed into coordinates;   transforming the profile data set from the plurality of imagers to a data storage system, and   cycling through the operational procedure if the processor requests profile data.